A three-day research conference on loneliness is proposed. Although loneliness is a widespread and distressing mental health problem, little systematic research on this topic is currently available. The proposed conference is designed to improve the quality of basic research on this important and neglected topic. Ultimately, a better understanding of loneliness will contribute to more effective programs to prevent or alleviate this problem. Loneliness research is also pertinent to such general social-psychological issues as people's expectations for social relations, their perceptions of social interactions, their efforts to achieve desired social relations, and their reactions to social deficits. The conference would serve as a catalyst for improved research on loneliness in three ways. (1) The conference would permit those actively engaged in loneliness research to clarify key conceptual and methodological issues in the field, and to consider priorities for future research. (2) The conference would encourage new, innovative approaches to loneliness by drawing on knowledge from four closely related and more fully developed research areas: social isolation, privacy, shyness and social network analyses. (3) Finally, the conference would lead to an edited book that would evaluate the state of research and theory in the field. At present, no research-oriented book on loneliness exists. Approximately 25 researchers, primarily psychologists and sociologists, would participate. Conference activities would include major invited papers, reports of innovative new research, and working discussion sessions. The proposed conference and resulting book would make major contributions toward encouraging more systematic, theory-based research on loneliness.